Castlemaine

Back in the 1850s this town just teemed with life

150,000 Miners all were dreaming of a strike

7,000 live here in Castlemaine

And he still works for the mines

Extracts 2 grams of gold per ton of sand

Dust the gold rush left behind.

I met him on a November Day

The Australian sun was bright

He squinted his eyes

He lit a cigarette

Another rough night.

The house he shared with his wife and babies

He had built with his own two hands

He could no longer call it home

In his place, another man

So he lives here with a friend of his

His wife lives down the street

They joke that it's a halfway house for men

Suffering temporary defeat

He makes me a cup of coffee

I notice his young (bud) weathered hands

Tanned except for where it was he wore a wedding band.

He askes me about America

A place he would love to be

He's been all over Australia

He's seen all there is to see

He shows me pictures of Ayers Rock

Wild Birds and Kangaroos

Pictures of his little ones

And his wife too

Then he said put out your hand

And I will give to you what I found on a recent trip

He lays in my palm a mound of multi colored opal chips

When his fingers touch mine

I feel a longing from within

Did that originate from me or from him?

But it's 4:00

He leaves for work

He returns home late that night

I'm in the room right down the hall

I can hear him snap on the light

I hear him softly humming

I hear a turning of a page

I dream that night of wild birds trapped inside an opal cage.

In the morning when I get up

He's in the kitchen making tea

He smiles and he says he's got one more parting gift for me

"Close your eyes, put out your hand" h